Grade 4 Reading Comprehension Worksheet

Read the short story. Then answer each question.

First Day

Here we go again, I thought, the first day of fourth grade . I always

got a little nervous on the first day of school. I knew a lot of the
other kids who would be in my class, and I had heard that the
teacher was nice. There would still be a lot of new things, though.
We would have new rules and new rou tines. We would have new
information to learn in all of the subject areas . There would also be
some new things that I wouldn’t expect, like maybe they moved the
classes to different hallways. I t was exciting, too, but that didn’t
mean I wasn’t anxious.

We lined up outside, and for the first week the teachers held up
signs with their names to help us find the right spot to line up. I knew
where the fourth graders lined up, and quickly spotted
the name “Mrs. Richardson” on one of the signs. She
would be my new teacher for the year. As I got in
line, I said hello to the friends I hadn’t seen all
summer. Mrs. Richardson walked down the
line, introducing herself to her new students.

She stuck out her hand and said, “Hi, I ’m

Mrs. Richardson. What’s your name?”

“Allison,” I answered, and shook her hand.

“I t’s nice to meet you, Allison. How was your summer?”

“I t was good. I got to go to the pool a lot,” I said.

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Grade 4 Reading Comprehension Worksheet

“That’s great, Allison. Thanks for speaking in complete sentences!

That shows me that your writing is probably very nice,”
complimented Mrs. Richardson
before she moved on to the next
student. I t felt great to be
complimented by my new
teacher!

As we entered the classroom,

Mrs. Richardson showed us where
to put our supplies. Then we gathered on the carpet.

“Our class needs to work together very closely in order to complete

the many exciting projects we’re going to do this year. You’ll be
working with each other frequently, so I want to make sure we’re all
on the same page. I want to know what is important to you, what
you value, in your classroom , teacher, classmates, and yours elf.
Please take a minute and think to yourself about your values.” We all
sat quietly. Then Mrs. Richardson gave us a partner, asked us to
introduce ourselves to each other, and asked us to share our
thoughts with each other. The ideas my partner and I ca me up with
were respec t, honesty, teamwork, and fairness.

After sharing with our partner, Mrs. Richardson asked two pairs to
work together to decide on three values and write them down. Our
group chose respect, cooperation, and fairness. When the groups
were done, each group had a chance to present their ideas, and
we voted on which three we would use as our classroom values. I
liked how we worked together to choose the values that would
guide our classroom!

Reading and Math for K-5 © www.k5learning.com

Grade 4 Reading Comprehension Worksheet

Questions:

1. Retell the story in your own words.

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

2. How would a different setting have changed the story? (For

example, if “First Day” had been set in the future, would all of
the events and materials they used be the same?)

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

3. What does “values” mean in the short story? How do you know?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

4. How would a different point of view have changed the story?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

5. How did the class choose their classroom values? Do you think
that was the best way for them to choose? Why or why not?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Reading and Math for K-5 © www.k5learning.com

Grade 4 Reading Comprehension Worksheet

Answers:

1. Retell the story in your own words.

Answers will vary.

2. How would a different setting have changed the story? (For

example, if “First Day” had been set in the future, would all of
the events and materials they used be the same?)
Answer will vary.

3. What does “values” mean in the short story? How do you know?
The term “values” means a person's principles or standards of
behavior.

4. How would a different point of view have changed the story?

Answers will vary.

5. How did the class choose their classroom values? Do you think
that was the best way for them to choose? Why or why not?
The class chose their classroom values by working together in
groups to come up with ideas and then voting on the values for
their classroom (Answers will vary).

Reading and Math for K-5 © www.k5learning.com